more life / b.simmons (2)

41

two months later

ben drives quickly to the hospital, adrian trailing behind him in his car. every few seconds he glances back in his rear view to make sure that adrian is still following him and didn't turn around.

analiese is nearly in labor, and ben isn't going to miss the birth of his daughter for anything. he had no idea that she was going into labor right now, because analieses mother didn't tell him like she said she would.

ben expertly swerves through traffic and adrian manages to keep up. he's not excited about going to the hospital to see his new sibling. adrian doesn't want to see analiese on behalf of his mother, but he was forced to spend time with his dad today, per request of kyra. 

adrian and bens relationship hasn't gotten better or worse. adrian hasn't had a full conversation with him since he found out that analiese was pregnant, and that was about six months ago. amari won't allow adrian and his father to fall out, so lately whenever kyra went to see ben, she made him go too.

ben pulls into the parking lot of the hospital and adrian pull in beside him. the tall family makes their way across the parking lot in half the strides it'd take normal people, walk through the sliding doors of the hospital.

people turn their heads as they hustle through the hospital and make their way up to the counter. "what room is analiese bueamont in?" he asks. the nurse behind the counter doesn't type anything into the computer yet.

"are you family?" she asks.

"she's having my kid," ben replies. the nurse raises her eyebrows and types her name into the system.

"room 408–youre the only one allowed in there right now. they will have to stay in the lobby," the nurse says, nodding at his kids. adrian already walked off to find a seat and kyra hugs ben and follows after he brother.

ben makes his way to the elevator and luckily, he gets there just as a person steps off. he gets on and clicks the 4 button, and the elevator takes him up. his hands slick with sweat and he wipes them on the pants hes wearing. analiese and him haven't even picked out a name—they're stuck between alana, aviana, ariana, and audrey. her mother wants her to have a french name because they're french, and ben doesn't care. he just wants his daughter to be born.

the elevator slowly takes him up the fourth floor, and he becomes antsier by the second. ben prays he didn't miss her birth because he'd never forgive himself.

finally, the doors slide open and ben steps out and rushes down the hall in search of the room analiese is in.

he finds it with quickness and knocks before entering. adelé opens it, unimpressed when she sees ben, but she lets him in anyway. she's not a fan of ben simply because he's not in a relationship with her daughter, but got her pregnant. oh well. the room is crowded with friends and family members of analiese. he is the oddball, despite being the father of the baby.

analiese groans out in pain. the baby isn't here yet, but with the way analiese is screaming, she might as well be. ben makes his way through the throngs of people and stands beside her. "hang in there," he says.

"is that not what i'm doing?" analiese says through gritted teeth. she manages her breath a lot better than amari did when she was in labor. analiese is a lot more prepared in that sense.

ben pats her on the shoulder before retreating to a wall to be out of everyones way. it's weird, being the only one who actually doesn't know analiese, not the way the rest of the room does. he couldn't tell you her favorite color, though he'd guess blue since something on her or with her is always blue. he couldn't tell you whether she liked tea or coffee better, books or movies better, or dogs or cats. he doesn't know how she likes her eggs, or what she puts on them. he doesn't know her deepest fears or secrets, or what makes her smile, what makes her upset, or what makes her feel bored.